The City of Charlotte has held three public meetings to solicit the public’s input on four possible future growth scenarios. The first scenario is called Business as Usual. It’s followed by three alternative scenarios showing possible growth patterns that could help achieve a more authentic, equitable, and integrated Charlotte.

The best parts of each scenario can then be combined to create a Preferred Growth Scenario, and that is where YOU can help! Read on to review the scenarios and then take the City's short online survey.

A quick update on the Center City Vision Plan, Streets Map, and Comprehensive 2040 Plan.

“You can’t talk about sustainability without talking about equity,” according to Ray McKinnon, the pastor of South Tryon Community United Methodist Church, and keynote speaker at our Charlotte Sustainability Summit.

The message was clear from attendees at our May Grow Smart CLT event: People want to live in a place where they can easily access amenities, and they want to feel safe doing that, no matter how they choose to get around.

Sustain Charlotte has been serving on the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Advisory Committee since 2017, providing a voice for smart growth in the Charlotte community, and raising up solutions for how our community can continue to grow while staying sustainable.

Over the past year, we have been providing input on a total re-write of the city’s Transit-Oriented Development Ordinance, which are the rules for development that occurs in areas adjacent to our rapid transit stations.

We spoke at the Charlotte City Council meeting in support of the ordinance, and sent a letter to the Council prior to the meeting, asking them to approve them. Read the full letter below.

You may have heard that Minneapolis recently approved a new Comprehensive Plan, which for the first time attempted to address racial segregation in the City’s housing patterns. To do this, the plan removed single-family zoning and allowed duplexes and triplexes in formerly single-family-only neighborhoods. While this move was controversial within the city, it was ultimately approved, and is being heralded across the country as a concrete step to address the challenges of racial equity and affordable housing.

At their November meeting, the Committee received updates on the Comprehensive Plan, Transit-Oriented Development Ordinances, and e-scooters.

With our state still reeling from the devastating impact of Florence, the world’s most esteemed climate scientists issued a dire warning: we have 12 years to act to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Here in North Carolina, we already know what catastrophe looks like.  Florence gave us a taste of it, with unusually intense and destructive rainfall that scientists tell us was a result of climate change. 

But if you’re like most Americans, you have moved beyond the tired debate about whether our climate is changing.  You want to know how you can help prevent things from getting even worse. 

News crews packed the room to hear the City Council Transportation and Planning Committee meeting on Monday, October 22nd.  Continued discussion about the Comprehensive Plan and what to do with electric scooters dominated the agenda.

Our October Grow Smart CLT event started with some disappointing news. The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), which Charlotte’s Planning Director, Taiwo Jaiyeoba, had promised would be revamped by June of 2020, won’t actually be finished by then. But there’s a good excuse.